State starts enforcing 50kg potato packaging rule

 The government has launched a crackdown on illegal packaging of potatoes even as it seeks to create awareness of new regulations that require the crop to be packaged in 50kg bags.

The new rules that were gazetted in 2019 came into effect on April 2 this year, but players in the value chain have yet to comply.

The government, through the Agriculture and Food Authority, now seeks to ensure compliance. The authority says it has dispatched enforcement officers to the potato-growing zones to enforce the Crop (Irish Potato) Regulations, 2019.

The law requires potato value chain players, including traders, transporters and farmers, to package the crop in 50kg bags.

AFA acting director general Kello Harsama said they have launched a sensitisation drive to ensure all the players adhere to the rules. He said the sensitisation will be followed by crackdowns across all the 10 potato-growing counties.

Harsama spoke on Wednesday at Gakoromone market in Meru county. He said traders dealing in irish potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots are notorious for using big packaging bags, some up to 110kg, to the disadvantage of farmers.

“The law is very clear and they must be packaged in 50kg bags. It has been the tradition of brokers in this country and cartels in the agriculture sector to rob the farmers of their earnings through wrong packaging or even cleverly designed packaging to benefit the cartels. Farmers have been exploited for a long time and this has to stop,” Harsama said.

He said the agriculture sector had been lost to cartels to an extent that farmers threatened to stop growing the crops.

“This is because brokers are earning more than the farmers. We are now trying to reclaim the agriculture sector from cartels and brokers, and we have begun with reforms in the coffee and tea subsectors. Now we are moving to enhance reforms in the horticulture sector,” Harsama said.

Gakoromone market traders, however, complained that they were not aware of the new regulations. They accused the government of harassment. The market's chairman for fresh produce Julius Kirimi said the problem with potato packaging has been there since 2013. He called for public participation.

“We are not opposed to the regulations but ask to be given more time to understand the regulations before the government starts the enforcement. We are aware that even the International Labour Law requires a loader not to carry more than 50kg, but our people should be sensitised to these issues,” Kirimi said.

Harsama, however, rubbished the claim, saying the traders were only looking out for their own interests. He said the government will defend farmers at all costs. The traders were still packaging the potatoes in bags weighed 75kg.

“From the farm gate, the produce should be packaged in 50kg bags, but the trader has forced the farmer to add 25 kilos. This means the farmer has been robbed of the 25 kilos and this is what the government is fighting,” Harsama said.

The director said enforcement officers will have have been given powers to arrest traders who violate the regulations.

A total of 150 enforcement officers have been gazetted to ensure compliance in all the potato-growing counties. 

Harsama said the officers have powers like the police to arrest, stop and search a vehicle and even detain a vehicle to charge an offender.

“Alongside the county enforcement officers, the police have also agreed to complement the efforts of these officers at various points. They will be able to boost the capacity of those officers and take action,” he said.